Operation: Blackhawk
by Little-Miss-Adler
Summary: This was how it was between them. A few smiles, little kind acts between them, the occasional kiss on the cheek. That was it. It never progressed into anything more. At least, not until a certain billionaire decided to intervene. Clint/Natasha and Clint/OC R
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **_Operation: Blackhawk_

**Rating: **_T__  
_

**A/N: **_Hello! This is my first Avengers fic and I have written this out of sheer boredom this summer. I have no one betaing this fic for me so I apologize for any mistakes and whatnot in this. Hopefully the second chapter will be longer but that depends. I think that's all I have to say for now so enjoy!_

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**Chapter One**

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Sometimes when the weather was cold, Natasha would find herself sitting in front of the fireplace in an old armchair reading. This was something she did when she wanted to relieve the stress of the job. She would let herself get lost in the mythical worlds within the well-worn pages and forget about the worries and problems she had from that particular day. Often, Clint would find her asleep with a rather thick book open on her lap and he would just smile and carry her to her bed. Natasha would wake up that morning to find a bookmark right where she remembered nodding off the night before.

This was how it was between them. A few smiles, little kind acts between them, the occasional kiss on the cheek. That was it. It never progressed into anything more. At least, not until a certain billionaire decided to intervene. He knew that if Natasha ever found out what he was doing, she would slice off something very, very important to him. Hell, Clint would probably shoot him right there and then. So he had to be sneaky about this.

Tony couldn't do this alone, of course. He needed someone else to be his accomplice. Steve? Nah, he would probably tell him that he should just mind his own business and leave Natasha and Clint alone. Thor? Nope. The god of thunder would probably give him away within an hour after knowing the plan. That left only one person.

"Bruuce!" Tony said as he bounded into the lab. Bruce eyed him wearily, noting the somewhat crazed glint in his eyes.

"What is it?" He asked cautiously. Tony clapped his hands together and settled in the seat across Bruce. He leaned forward with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"How would you like to help me pull off the mission of the century?" Bruce leaned away and crossed his arms.

"What do you mean? And why are you asking me? Do the others know about this?" He asked. Tony pressed a finger to his lips and shushed Bruce.

"This is a secret mission. You, my friend, are the only one who knows about this." Tony whispered conspiratorially. Bruce rolled his eyes at the billionaire.

"You haven't even told me what the bloody mission is." Tony looked around the room, as if making sure that no one was watching. Which was totally ridiculous considering that the two of them were the only ones in the whole room.

"As you are well aware, two of our comrades have undeniable chemistry." Tony began. Bruce suddenly had a feeling where this was going.

"Oh no. You are not seriously su-"

"BUT ALAS! They are oblivious to this chemistry."

"Natasha will kill you if she fin-"

"THEREFORE! As their dear friend, I have taken it upon myself to help the two of them realize their mutual feelings for each other and thus end their lonely misery." Tony finished proudly, blatantly ignoring Bruce's protests.

"And what do you aim on getting from this whole scheme?" Bruce asked. Tony smirked.

"Nothing! I was hoping to finally get rid of the sexual tension between the two of them, that's all. You could cut it with a knife, honestly." He said, shaking his head. Bruce grew quiet, contemplating the possible of outcomes of this scheme. Should he be a part of this mad idea?

"Why me though?" Bruce asked. "Of all the people why are you asking me to be your partner in crime?" Tony looked at him seriously.

"No one ever suspects you of doing something like this. And, I figured you might have a little fun with this. You know, get you to take your nose out of those damn notes you read all the time." He said. Bruce smiled a little.

"Alright, why the hell not?" He said, agreeing to help Tony with this scheme. Tony clapped him on the back.

"Good on you, Bruce! I knew I could count on you!" He said cheerfully. "Now, to get down to business. What do you think we should do first?" Bruce stared.

"You mean you have no idea what you're gonna do first?" He asked incredulously. Tony sighed.

"Look, this plan has to have every single detail figured out or else Natasha or Clint might find out and when they do they'll have both our asses." Bruce flinched at the thought of Natasha's fury and started brainstorming possible ideas.

After a long silence, Tony brightened up and slammed his hands down on the table.

"Duh. All we have to do is to make Natasha jealous!" He said clearly proud of his plan. Bruce frowned.

"That's kind of obvious, don't you think? She can probably see that we're trying to set up Clint with someone." He pointed out. Tony waved his hand dismissively.

"It's the only thing we've got so far." He said. "But you're absolutely right. If we introduce some random chick to Clint, Natasha will obviously see what we're doing. This is why we're going to hire someone."

"Like a prostitute?" Bruce asked disdainfully.

"What? No! What I mean is, we're going to hire an assistant. Someone to help us out in the lab, you know?" He said.

"Ah. So say Clint and this girl do get together. What will happen next?" Bruce said thoughtfully. He couldn't imagine this plan working out. Natasha was too clever and what were the chances that Clint would ask the girl out?

"Girls get jealous very easily, trust me. Natasha will probably just do whatever to get Clint back and bada bing bada boom we'll have our perfect, happy couple." Tony said. Bruce was slightly doubtful of this plan but nodded.

"Ok then. Looks like we're set. All we need to do is find the right person. Someone that will probably not fall for Clint so she won't get to torn up over the eventual break up, right?" He said. Tony nodded.

"Operation: Get Clint Laid is now underway!" He said, rubbing his hands together and waggling his eyebrows mischievously.

"First of all, don't ever wag your eyebrows like that. It creeps me out. And second, why is it called 'Operation: Get Clint Laid'?" Bruce asked.

"Well, obviously Clint _will _get laid at some point during this plan and I couldn't think of anything else to call it."

"Alright, alright!" Bruce said, raising his hands in surrender. "I won't question you."

"Damn straight." Tony said smirking. Bruce rolled his eyes. "Jarvis?"

"Yes sir?" The voice said from somewhere above them. Bruce never got the hang of Jarvis yet. He didn't know where to look when he (it?) was talking.

"Call Pepper for me, would you? And put her on speaker." Tony said, winking at Bruce.

"Right away sir." Jarvis said. After a couple of rings, Pepper picked up.

"_What do you want Tony? I__'__m busy._" Pepper's irritated voice answered.

"Aw, you're always busy." Tony pouted. "I just wanted to ask you for a little favour."

There was a sigh on the other end of the line.

"_What did you do this time?_"

"Why, I'm offended. Can't I ask you for one favour without you assuming I've don't something stupid?"

"_Tony__…_"

"Oh alright. I just wanted to ask if you could find Dr. Banner and I a lab assistant? See, nothing stupid."

"_Why would you want a lab assistant? Isn__'__t Bruce enough?__"_

"Well, we're quite swamped with papers and whatnot from SHIELD. Please Pepper?" Tony pleaded.

"… _I__'__ll see what I can do._" Pepper said reluctantly. Tony gave a thumbs up to Bruce who couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks Pep! You're the best! And could you maybe make sure the assistant is a girl, preferably an attractive one, maybe brunette and try to avoid gingers? Thanks!" He added quickly before hanging up. Bruce laughed.

"Try to avoid gingers? Really."

/

A few hours later, Bruce, Tony, Clint, Steve, Natasha and Thor were lounging in front of a massive screen watching a movie. Steve was completely absorbed in the movie, his eyes filled with wonder at the effects and imagery. Clint and Natasha were sitting next to each other on one couch. Clint's arm was around Natasha's shoulders and she was leaning against him. Bruce and Tony eyed the pair and gave each other knowing looks. Thor was sitting crossed legged on the ground frowning in confusion.

"I do not understand why this Flynn Rider doesn't just break the tower down instead of putting the maiden's hair under much stress." He rumbled.

"Don't you think the princess will get hurt if he breaks the tower while she's still in it?" Bruce pointed out. Thor pondered for a minute before smiling sheepishly.

"Ah. That had slipped my mind." He said lamely. Tony snorted and shoveled more popcorn into his mouth. He was waiting anxiously for Pepper to arrive with the information on possible candidates for their new lab assistant.

"Sir, Ms. Potts has arrived." Jarvis said over the sound of the movie. The others gave Tony dirty looks as the movie got paused. Tony stuck his tongue out at them.

"Tell her I'll be in the lab. Thanks Jarvis." He replied, dumping the bowl of popcorn onto Steve's lap and leaping to his feet. Bruce raised an eyebrow at him and Tony winked back.

"Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it, darling." He said.

"Please don't ever call me that."

Tony blew a kiss at Bruce before leaving the room. The other Avengers smirked at this.

"Should we be expecting a wedding announcement soon?"

"Shut up, Clint."

When Tony arrived at the lab, he found Pepper waiting with a stack of folders. She pushed it towards him and he patted the pile happily.

"Tell me again why you're being annoyingly specific with how your lab assistant looks like?" She asked skeptically. Tony gazed at her with a very serious expression.

"I'm trying to set Bruce up with one of them. God only knows when the last time he got laid was." He lied smoothly. Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"It's nice that you're looking out for him and all but don't you think you should leave his love life alone?"

"I've taken it upon myself to be Bruce's wingman, Pepper. I have duties to attend to and this includes finding potential partner's for my dear friend. If I say he needs to get laid then he _will _get laid." Tony said enthusiastically. Pepper sighed.

"Ok Tony. On your own head, so be it. I just hope you know what you're doing." She warned him.

"Relax Pep. I've got this." He winked. She rolled her eyes and headed for the door.

Tony waited for the door to be shut before whipping out his phone and dialing Bruce's number.

"I believe you and I have a date, Dr. Banner." He said. He smirked as he heard Bruce's sigh on the other end of the phone.

"I'll be right down." Bruce said faintly. Tony hung up and pulled out a file at random from the large stack.

"Tiffany Reese. Hmm, not bad looking. 19? Ugh, Clint will look like a pedophile." He mused as he sifted through the folder. He closed it and set it aside before opening another one.

"Megan Costello. Not bad. The nose is a tad bit too large for my taste." He said, frowning.

"But you're forgetting that this is for Clint and not you." Bruce's voice floated in. Tony looked up and smirked.

"Doesn't mean I can't have a look." He said. Bruce sat across him and pulled half of the folders to himself. He opened the one on top and raised an eyebrow. Tony noticed his expression.

"See something you like?" Tony said suggestively. Bruce flushed red slightly before pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Um, no. I was just uh-" He spluttered. Tony laughed.

"It's alright man. Don't stress yourself. Although if you do see one you like just say the word and we'll hire her too." He winked. Bruce turned even redder and looked down at the table.

"We're supposed to be setting up Clint, not me." He said, still staring at the table. Tony waved his hand at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, what about her?" He said suddenly. Bruce sat up straighter and glanced at the photo of the girl Tony was pointing at.

The girl in the picture had dark hair that curled at the tips and hazel-green eyes that seemed to twinkle mischievously. Bruce read her credentials and his eyes widened, clearly impressed.

"I know, Brucey. Smart _and _sexy." Tony said, still looking in awe at the information written. Kristi McNeil. Yes, she would be perfect for this. Tony quickly jotted down the phone number listed on the file and dialed it.

"Hello? Miss McNeil? This is Tony Stark." He said cockily into the phone. Bruce rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. "Congratulations, you have been chosen to be my new lab assistant! How does that make you feel?" He continued. Bruce heard the muffled, excited sounds the girl was making and shook his head.

"Why don't me and Dr. Banner meet up with you tomorrow morning to discuss a few things? How does nine sound? Ok great! See you tomorrow then!" Tony said before hanging up. He grinned at Bruce and gave him a thumbs up.

"Operation: Blackhawk is now ready to commence." He said excitedly.

"Operation: Blackhawk?" Bruce said. Tony crossed his arms and frowned at him.

"Its better than Operation: Get Clint Laid." He said defensively. "And you know Blackhawk because _Black_ Widow and _Hawk_eye?" Bruce looked mildly amused by this.

"Have you and Darcy been talking about this shipping names thing again?"

"Oh, shut up."

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**Review if you liked it! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I am so so sorry that this update took so long. I probably lost a lot of readers because of the wait but ahh I hope you all forgive me! And to _cruciotheordinarypeople_ my name is the same as on my blog :) I want to thank you all for subscribing and faveing this story and to all those of you who reviewed as well! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned the Avengers and Marvel, Loki would be in my room reading Shakespeare to me but alas, he is not so therefore, I clearly do not own Marvel or the Avengers.

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**Chapter Two**

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The next morning, Bruce headed to the kitchen to find Tony sitting at the table looking very much awake. Tony noticed Bruce's arrival and bounded out of his seat towards the scientist.

"Morning Brucey!" Tony shouted cheerfully.

"Well, you're looking awfully chipper today." Bruce said dryly. Tony shrugged and snatched his mug of coffee off the table. Bruce sat down and plucked a banana from the fruit bowl. He munched on it quietly while scanning the newspaper Tony tossed him.

It was quiet between the two men until Thor burst into the room followed by a rumpled looking Steve. "Good morning to you all, my friends." Thor boomed cheerfully. Bruce gave him a nod of his head and smiled a little.

"Hi to you too, Thor." The scientist said wearily. Steve noticed Tony and Bruce dressed and ready to go and looked at Tony sharply.

"Where are you two off to so early?" He asked. Tony grinned.

"We're off to meet the new lab assistant we hired yesterday. We wanna make sure she's suitable for the job. Get to know her better, you know?" He said, winking at Bruce. Steve looked surprised but shrugged.

"Oh. Well alright then." He finished. Bruce bit off the last of his banana before tossing the peel at the bin.

"Ready?" Bruce asked Tony.

"Yup. She said to meet at the little café about a block from here." He said back, reading the email she had sent him early this morning. They said goodbye to Thor and Steve and headed down the lift.

"I really hope we're doing the right thing here, Tony." Bruce said. His conscience had been nagging at him the night before. Nagging was a bit of an understatement. His mind had been screaming at him to stop messing with Clint and Natasha but he had ignored it. Tony glanced at him and snorted.

"Relax. Once all this is done Clint and Natasha will be thanking us." He said stubbornly. Bruce sighed. There really was no turning back now.

The two of them walked down the street, ignoring the looks and gasps from people around them as they were recognized. Bruce shrank back into his jacket, not used to all the attention, while Tony smirked and practically strutted down the street.

"Stop it!" Bruce hissed, still trying to hide himself. Tony glanced at him.

"Why? I'm not doing anything." He said innocently.

"Just stop making yourself stand out so much." Bruce mumbled. Tony sighed but stopped his little parading. They managed to arrive at the café without getting hounded by fans and sat in the quietest corner away from the roadside.

"Excuse me," A voice piped up. Bruce and Tony looked up from their phone and saw a girl standing next to their table. Decked out in a dark trench coat and sunglasses, she looked like some kind of reporter or stalker. "Tony Stark and Bruce Banner?" She said again.

"Sorry babe, no autographs." He said dismissively. The girl laughed, startling Bruce and Tony.

"I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself first." She said apologetically. She removed her sunglasses and sat down across the two men. "I'm Kristi McNeil. It's so great meeting you two in person." Tony sat up straighter, taking the time to actually look at Kristi properly.

"Ah. Right." He said, gazing at her intently. She shrugged off the coat and set it down next to her. Tony cleared his throat before continuing. "Before you start working with us, there's something important you need to know." He said seriously. Kristi looked between him and Bruce before nodding and leaning forward.

"I see. Well, don't worry Mr. Stark. I won't tell anyone else about your relationship with Dr. Banner. That's your story to tell when you're both ready. My lips are sealed." She said kindly. Tony looked bewildered and stared at her with wide eyes while Bruce choked back a strangled cry. She leaned back and frowned. "What's wrong?" Tony snapped back to his senses and coughed.

"That wasn't what I was going to tell you." He said pointedly. Kristi looked surprised.

"Oh! Um, I'm sorry for making such a huge assumption. I just uh, never mind." She apologized hastily. Bruce fought back a laugh.

"It's alright." Tony replied. He glanced around before leaning forward. "What you need to know is that your hiring is not a coincidence. There's another reason why I've chosen you as our new assistant." He said. Kristi looked mystified.

"Hmm. And what is this ulterior motive of yours?" She said, crossing her arms. Tony bit his lip. He wasn't sure how she would react to him telling her that she would just be toying with Clint to get Natasha jealous. Would she slap him and leave, refusing to do something that awful? Or would she go along with it?

"Um, well you see…" Tony started. Bruce interrupted quickly before Tony could finish.

"We're trying to set up Hawkeye with you." He said quickly. Kristi's eyebrows shot up in surprise but she didn't say anything. "That's if it's alright with you." He added hastily. Kristi shifted in her seat uneasily.

"I'm flattered, Dr. Banner but I think that Hawkeye and the Black Widow would be better off together." She joked. She caught the guilty look that passed over Tony and Bruce's face and realization struck her. "Whoa. Hold up! This is crazy!" She cried. Tony shushed her and looked around the place furtively.

"You have to understand why we're doing this." He pleaded. Kristi looked helplessly at Bruce who avoided her gaze. "Haven't you ever tried playing cupid to your friends before?" Tony pressed. Kristi sighed. He was right. She narrowed her eyes at both of them before speaking once more.

"So you want me to date him to make Black Widow jealous and get them together?" She said flatly. She could not believe this was happening to her. Tony nodded.

"That's basically it. Oh, and it's Clint and Natasha. You can call them that." He said cooly. Kristi rolled her eyes.

"Ok, so its Clint and Natasha instead of Hawkeye and Black Widow. But did you two even think about what Natasha could do to me if she gets mad? I've seen how she fought and frankly I'm not very keen on getting on her bad side." She said huffily. Bruce and Tony looked at each other before looking at Kristi.

"Well, now that you mention it we didn't think of that." Tony said weakly.

"For a pair of supposed geniuses that was pretty stupid for you to have overlooked that." She said angrily. Bruce looked at her guiltily.

"We're sorry. If it makes you feel any better, we'll promise to always have your back." He said softly. Kristi sighed.

"I don't know. I don't really like messing around with other people." She said, biting her lip. Tony and Bruce looked slightly dejected.

"Oh. I see." Tony said dully. "We underst-"

"BUT. I do think those two will make a good couple." She admitted. Tony perked up.

"So is that a yes?" He asked excitedly.

"I suppose." She said slowly. Tony literally jumped out of his seat and punched the air in victory.

"YES!" He yelled. The other customers glared at him but he ignored them and sat back down. "Now, the thing is no one else besides Bruce and I know of this plan so this has to be super secret. Can we count on you?" He said. Kristi nodded.

"Yeah, of course." She said. Tony looked satisfied.

"You also must not fall for Clint for real." He said seriously. Kristi smiled.

"I'll try to resist his charms." She joked. Tony smiled widely.

"Excellent!" He said. Bruce coughed and Tony and Kristi looked at him.

"What happens if Clint doesn't fall for her?" He pointed out. "This might not work." Tony dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry Brucey. Clint is bound to start feeling horny again sometime."

"Tony!" Bruce sighed.

"Fine, fine. Don't worry about it. Just trust me, ok?" Tony pleaded. Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He said. Kristi smiled at him.

"So, are we going back to the famous Stark Tower now?" She asked, excitement visible in her eyes. Tony nodded and stood up.

"Yup, let's go!"

/

Kristi's head spun. Tony dragged Bruce and herself all over the tower quite quickly and she didn't get the chance to properly look around. Bruce was looking kind of bored but was all smiled as soon as they got to where the rest of the Avengers were lounging. Clint and Thor were arguing over the last box of Pop-Tarts while Steve tried to stop the two from potentially destroying anything within the vicinity.

"Hey guys!" Tony said loudly, drawing the attention of the trio. Three pairs of eyes immediately zoned in on Kristi who was standing next to Tony. "This is the new assistant we told you about, Kristi McNeil. She's going to be here for a while so be nice to her, alright?" He directed the last bit to Clint who rolled his eyes at him. He walked up to Kristi and held out his hand for her to shake.

"Clint Barton. But you knew that." He said cockily. Kristi smiled.

"Ah yes, the famous Hawkeye." She gushed. "I've heard so much about you." She said, flashing him a stunning smile. Clint looked flattered and smirked.

"Really? What kind of things?" He said with a wink. Kristi giggled and Clint looked even more pleased with himself.

"Oh you know, that you're the one with the second biggest ego in the Avengers." She said cheekily. Clint's jaw dropped while Steve, Bruce and Thor roared in laughter.

"Hey!" Tony said crossing his arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kristi ignored him looked at Clint who was glaring at her.

"Oh, I see how this is. You probably don't even know a thing about the stuff Tony and Bruce does. You're just another toy for him to play with well you know what? I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot pole. Wouldn't wanna catch any diseases." He shot at her. The silence that followed was terrifying. Tony looked annoyed and was glaring at Clint while Steve and Thor looked highly offended by what he said. Bruce on the other hand was staring at Kristi who looked like she wanted to punch Clint right in the face.

"Thought so." Clint said nastily before leaving the room. All eyes in the room swiveled over to Kristi. She looked pissed as hell but her fist relaxed and she sighed.

"I wasn't expecting him to be such an asshole." She said simply. Bruce looked at her, surprised.

"You're not mad?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm really mad. But I've heard things like this all the time so I kinda of got used to it." Her tone was casual but her eyes looked hurt and angry. Steve still looked a bit uncomfortable with what had happened and was edging towards the door.

"I'll go talk to Clint. He shouldn't have said all those things. Sorry you had to see him like this Ms. McNeil." He said apologetically. Kristi took a deep breath and sighed.

"I guess I shouldn't have started off like that." She said. Tony patted her arm.

"Clint's an asshole but he's a lovable one. He'll warm up to you if you stop the smartass talk." He grinned. Kristi smiled back weakly. Bruce dragged Tony away by the sleeve and faced him.

"I don't think this is a good idea anymore. I mean Clint probably doesn't want anything to do with Kristi after all this." He said in a low voice. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Aw, come on Bruce. So what if Clint's ego got a bit bruised? He'll come around. Kristi isn't going anywhere anytime soon so he might as well just get used to having her around." He said. Bruce shook his head.

"I don't know, Tony."

"Relax, big guy. Everything will be fine." He reassured Bruce. The other scientist sighed.

"Yeah, alright. You can show Kristi around ok? I have some stuff I need to do in the lab." He said.

"Fine. Go play with your toys." Tony said. Bruce smiled a little and headed out of the room as well. Tony turned back to Kristi who was talking to Thor.

"Clint is a good man, Kristi. Give him a chance." He told her. Kristi smiled at him.

"Yeah. I know." She said softly. Tony clapped his hands together and sidled over to Kristi's side.

"How about I take you to your new room at Stark Tower?"

/

Clint stormed off furiously. How dare that she call him egotistical? Ok, so maybe she didn't exactly say that but she sure as hell implied it. Today wasn't a good day anyways. This just added fuel to the fire. First, Thor stepped on his favorite bow and then he finds out that Natasha left for a mission last night without saying goodbye. Trust Tony to bring in a new plaything with a smartass mouth to piss him off even more.

"Stupid smartass." He grumbled to himself. He heard the footsteps of someone approaching him and came to a halt. "Go away." He growled as he turned around. Steve's face was a mask of disapproval as he stared at Clint. "What? Are you taking _her_ side too?" He said furiously. Steve sighed.

"You shouldn't have said that to her. That was just downright mean, Clint." He said in a calm voice. Clint snorted.

"So? What she said was mean too." He snapped, crossing his arms.

"Now you're starting to sound like a child, Clint. I know today hasn't been very great for you but please just giver Kristi a chance. I saw the look on her face when you said all those things to her. I can tell she's heard that so many times before. Imagine how that feels to have that said to you by someone who everyone else looks up to?" Steve said. Clint felt a twinge of guilt and sighed.

"Fine. I'll go apologize. But this doesn't mean that she and I will be friends, ok?" He said called over his shoulder as he walked away. _Stupid, bloody conscience _he thought.

As he arrived at the door to Bruce and Tony's lab, he took a deep breath, crossed his fingers and knocked. There was muffled response and the sound of shuffling feet.

"Clint? What are you doing here?" Bruce asked, frowning.

"I was just looking for Kristi. I uh, wanted to talk to her." He said, running his hands through his hair nervously. Bruce smiled a little.

"Tony took her upstairs to her room." He told the archer. "Its just the floor above this one." Clint nodded.

"Ah, ok. Thanks Bruce." He said before turning and walking away. Bruce just shook his head and retreated back into the lab. Clint fiddled with his hands as the elevator made its way up to Kristi's room. The elevator stopped with a ping and he found himself looking at a huge room.

Actually, room was an understatement. Kristi's 'room' was actually the whole floor. Glass panels covered one entire wall giving a stunning view of the city's skyline. There was a hallway to the right leading (Clint supposed) to the bedroom. The room was completed with a lab in one corner closed off by more glass panels and a kitchen and living area.

"This place is huge!" Clint heard Kristi's voice exclaim. "I didn't realize I would have to move here! Why didn't you tell me this?"

"It was a surprise." Tony's voice floated out amusedly. The voices grew louder as they approached and Clint felt awkward standing there when they saw him.

"Clint?" Kristi said, staring at him. He gave her a small smile.

"Uh, hi." He said awkwardly. Tony looked between the two of them and smirked.

"All righty then. Kristi, I expect you to be at the lab in five minutes." He told her. As he passed by Clint he stopped and winked at him before hurrying out of the room.

There was a long silence between the two of them before Clint spoke.

"I'm sorry about all this crap I said earlier. I was having a shit day so far and I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He said, staring at the ground. Kristi smiled a little.

"I think we both got off on the wrong foot today. I can say some pretty snarky things sometimes. I shouldn't have said that to you either." She said. Clint smiled at her.

"Well, let's start over then shall we?" He said, sticking his hand out. "Hi, I'm Clint Barton." Kristi grasped his hand and shook it.

"Hi, I'm Kristi McNeil. It is an honour to meet you, Mr. Barton." She said. Clint laughed.

"Please, call me Clint." He winked. Kristi shook her head and smiled.

"Alright, this is getting weird." She said, pulling her hand away. Clint smiled and wanted to say something more but was interrupted by Jarvis.

"_Miss McNeil, Tony would like me to tell you to come down and stop making googly eyes at Mr. Barton. He also instructed me to tell Mr. Barton to stop flirting with Miss McNeil." _Jarvis told them. Clint and Kristi looked red-faced at this. Kristi looked up, not knowing where else to look to speak to the AI and shouted.

"Tell Tony to stop spying on me or else I will kick his sorry ass." Clint laughed.

"I guess we both better be going." She said. They walked out to the elevator together and as Kristi walked away towards Bruce and Tony's lab, she looked over her shoulder.

"See you around, Clint."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** EEP I AM SO SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I was extremely busy with this project plus report that came with it and the deadlines just kept piling up. I hope you all forgive me! Also, I'm not much of a party person so the scene near the end was sort of my own invention so I'm sorry if it's really crap.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in this story except Kristi. I also do not own the songs featured in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Kristi entered Tony's lab looking sheepish. Tony smirked and sidled over to her. "You were giggling like a love-struck teenager." He tutted. Kristi flashed him a sweet smile before punching him hard in the shoulder.

"And you were spying on us like a dirty, old, lecher." She said, watching him wince slightly in pain. She sat down next to Bruce and eyed the stack of folders next to him. "What's that? Paperwork?" She asked as she reached for the pile. Bruce looked up from what he was doing and saw what she was reaching for. He flushed a light shade of pink as Kristi's eyes widened at what she saw.

The folders with all the information on the candidates for Tony and Bruce's ridiculous plan were all there in front of her. She noticed that all the girls were pretty. She smirked, slightly amused by this.

"Those are uh, you don't really need to see those." Bruce stammered feeling embarrassed. He felt totally shallow and superficial about the fact that they had been looking for someone based on looks mostly. Kristi's expression softened and she closed the folders before pushing them towards Bruce.

"It's alright. I'm glad that you picked someone with brains though." She joked. Bruce relaxed and smiled back. Tony, feeling as though he had been forgiven for spying on her, snuck down next to Kristi.

"I was thinking that instead of movie night we should all go down to the bar." He announced. Kristi paused for a second, trying to imagine movie night with a group of superheroes. She shuddered slightly at the thought. Bruce frowned.

"Why the bar? And you know how Steve always looks forward to movie night." Tony smiled.

"Tonight is karaoke night down at the bar and I figured what better way is there to get to know someone than seeing them drunk off their ass and singing?" He crowed, clearly convinced this was smart plan. Kristi giggled but stopped short when she realized something.

"Isn't it dangerous to have a bunch of superheroes drunk in a teeny tiny little bar?" She pointed out. Bruce sighed and took off his glasses.

"That's what I told them last time." He said, shaking his head. "They ended up destroying the entire place and managed to steal half of New York's Pop-Tart supply."

"Hey! I paid for it all later." Tony said indignantly. Bruce snorted.

"Yeah, Fury really did make all of you pay for it. Anyways," He continued. "I don't drink. I don't want to risk letting the Other Guy out when I have no proper control over myself." He finished solemnly. Kristi's respect for Bruce soared at this point. She could imagine him sitting patiently at the bar watching his friends laugh and drink merrily. His amount of self-control was almost incomprehensible to Kristi. She was impulsive and got carried away with things sometimes.

"We could just have it here, you know." Kristi suggested. "That way if things get too out of hand we'll still have Jarvis to watch out for us, right?" Tony stroked his beard slowly.

"I suppose. Yeah, why not?" He grinned. Kristi cheered and high-fived Tony.

"This is gonna be great!" She said excitedly. "Maybe we'll even get to see you sing, Dr. Banner." She said, winking. Bruce shook his head.

"I'm not really into-" Tony cut him off with a slap on the back.

"You gotta loosen up a little, Brucey." He said cheerfully. Bruce looked between Kristi and Tony who both had such expectant expressions on their faces. He found himself nodding shyly.

"Alright. Just _one_ song." He added as Kristi and Tony cheered happily.

The rest of the morning was spent doing paperwork and conducting various experiments. Actually Bruce was the only one doing paperwork. Tony and Kristi were playing around with the different chemicals trying to see which would be more effective in melting the metal used on Tony's Ironman suit. "It's just for extra precaution." Tony insisted.

Unfortunately, the wrong combination eventually led to a rather loud and smoky explosion. The fire alarms rang and the sprinklers turned on automatically. Bruce coughed and looked around. The explosion knocked over all the papers on his desk and Tony and Kristi were nowhere to be seen.

"Tony? Kristi?" He called out worriedly.

"Over here!" Tony shouted from behind one of the other tables. Bruce made his way over carefully, avoiding the spilled chemicals on the ground. When he finally saw Tony he noticed the odd expression on the billionaire's face. He turned to see what Tony was looking at and saw Kristi standing behind him.

"Everything's fine, we're all right." She said, dusting off her clothes. Bruce gaped at Kristi's hair. Tony stifled a laugh as Kristi frowned. "What? What are you looking at?" She demanded. Bruce pointed to the glass window behind Kristi and she turned around to check her reflection.

"WHAT THE HELL?" She shrieked. The chemical from the explosion landed on mostly the bottom parts of her hair essentially destroying clumps of it off and burning the other parts. She whipped around angrily and pointed a finger at Tony. "This is your fault! I told you not to mix those two together!" She hissed furiously. Tony held his hands up in surrender.

"It was an accident!" He said defensively. Bruce looked at Kristi's ruined hair.

"You're going to have to cut those bits of." He said. Kristi huffed and looked down at the ruined hair tips.

"I'm going to make sure you pay for this Tony." She said darkly.

"WAIT! I can help you fix this." He said quickly. Kristi crossed her arms.

"How?" She said flatly. Tony grinned at her.

"I'll call the best hairstylist money can buy and they can fix up your hair again." He said. Kristi thought about it for a moment but sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

Half an hour later, Bruce and Tony watched as the hairstylist got to work. Antonio, the hairstylist, whispered something to Kristi before getting started. She looked surprised but agreed to whatever it was he had asked. Tony and Bruce soon got hungry and told Kristi to meet them at the kitchen once everything was done.

"You're lucky she's not like Natasha." Bruce said as they walked. "If you did that to her you probably wouldn't be able to have any children in the future." Tony shuddered at the thought.

"Thank god that Kristi's nice." He said. Bruce grinned.

"You've gotten fond of her, haven't you?" He said slyly. Tony snorted.

"Of course not." He said. Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Don't deny it Tony. I can see it when you two were messing around. She's the sister you never had." He said. Tony didn't answer but Bruce could see a hint of a smile forming on his face.

When they arrived at the kitchen they saw that Clint, Thor and Steve were already opening a box of pizza. Clint had a piece in his hand and waved it at Tony and Bruce. "Where's Kristi?" He asked before taking a bite out of the slice.

"Tony destroyed her hair so she's getting it fixed." Bruce said, grabbing a slice from the box. Clint swallowed before staring at Tony.

"You _destroyed_ her _hair_? You know how women have that weird attachment to their hair!" He said incredulously. Tony shrugged.

"It was an accident! It wasn't like I meant for the explosion to happen." Steve looked up, alarmed.

"Explosion? Is she alright?" He asked concernedly. Tony nodded.

"Yeah, yeah she's fine." He said. Thor moved closer to join the conversation.

"This is similar to what happened to Lady Sif back in Asgard. Loki had cut off her hair and she was angry with him for a very a long time. In fact, I still don't think she has fully forgiven him." He said. Tony looked slightly terrified. "But I think that Lady Kristi has a very kind heart. She will most likely forgive you easily, my friend. Do not worry."

"Let's hope she does." Clint said.

"Let's hope I what?" Tony, Clint, Bruce, Steve and Thor jumped at the sound of Kristi's voice. Clint winked at Tony who glared at him before facing Kristi.

"Nothing he was just being a-" He broke off, staring at Kristi. Her once dark hair was now dyed a light strawberry blond and was cut short. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Tony accusingly.

"What?" She demanded.

"Whoa." Clint said almost reverently. Kristi looked at him and blushed after seeing the expression on his face. Tony shook himself out of his trance and walked around Kristi, eyeing her hair from all sides.

"Hmmm, I miss the dark hair but you look pretty hot as a blonde too." He decided. Kristi whacked him on the arm.

"Don't forget that you'll still have to pay for this. And not just literally paying for the haircut." She threatened. Tony waved his hand at her uncaringly.

"I did you a favour." He said cockily. Kristi snorted before stepping around him to grab a slice of pizza. Thor, Steve and Bruce were still staring at her.

"I almost didn't recognize you, Lady Kristi." Thor said. Steve smiled at her.

"Yeah. I heard about the explosion so I thought that it had done much worse. It's good to see that you're fine." He said. Bruce didn't say a word and quietly continued munching on his pizza. Tony distracted everyone by clapping his hands loudly.

"Guys, I forgot to make an announcement. Tonight, instead of movie night, we will be holding a karaoke night right here." He said. Clint and Thor looked excited by this news but Steve looked slightly put out.

"But we were going to watch 'The Breakfast Club' tonight." He protested.

"Come on Steve, we can watch that tomorrow night. Let this be a night to welcome Kristi here and make her feel at home. Although we're lacking in the female numbers." He said.

"You could invite Darcy and Jane." Clint suggested. Thor slammed his fist down on the table suddenly causing everyone to jump in surprise.

"Yes! What a wonderful idea!" He boomed. Kristi laughed and sat down next to Clint.

"So, am I going to hear you sing tonight?" She asked. He snorted.

"Yeah uh I don't do karaoke." He said cooly.

"Then what was all that dancing and singing you did last week?" Bruce said slyly.

"Yeah! You looked like you were really into it especially when you reached the chorus to 'Dancing Queen'." Tony piped up. Clint glared daggers at the two before facing Kristi who was laughing.

"I was really drunk, okay?" He said defensively. Kristi smirked.

"Whatever you say." She said, still laughing a little.

/

Later on in the afternoon, Kristi was playing on the Wii with Clint and Steve. Poor Steve just couldn't grasp the idea of using the remote to play bowling and ended up throwing it around a lot by accident. So, they decided to switch games and played a boxing game instead. Steve quickly got the hang of the controls and kicked both Clint and Kristi's butt at the game.

"Maybe we should switch to a different game." Kristi said. Clint perked up.

"What about archery?" He suggested. Kristi stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, that's a _great_ idea." She said sarcastically. Steve put the remote down.

"You guys can play. I think I've had enough of this for one day." He said. "Do you guys need anything from the kitchen?"

"Oh, I'll have a root beer." Kristi said.

"And I'll have some chips, please." Clint said. Steve nodded before leaving the room. Clint lounged on the sofa and watched as Kristi fumbled with the remotes before finding the correct one and switching the Wii off. "So, aren't your parents proud that you work for _the_ Tony Stark?"

Kristi sat down next to him. "Actually, I don't have parents. Never did." She said quietly. Clint felt like a dick for asking and straightened up.

"What do you mean?" He asked. She sighed and faced him.

"I was left on the steps of one of the orphanages here so I never really knew my parents. I was never adopted either. I guess I was too out of place or something but none of the couples ever took to me." Clint looked down at his lap and listened intently as she continued.

"I ended up in the foster care for a couple of years until I ran away when I turned sixteen. I worked odd jobs and studied as hard as I could so I could live a life that was better than what I had back then. Imagine, an orphan with no family, no friends and no money and now she lands a job with Tony freaking Stark. How crazy is that?" She laughed hollowly. Clint looked at her.

"It's not crazy. You worked hard and you got what you deserve. I just don't understand why someone like you could possibly feel so out of place all the time. I just hope that you feel like you're one of us here." He said sincerely. Kristi stared at him with wide eyes.

"Clint I-" She started, her cheeks feeling warm after noticing how close he had gotten.

"Sorry Clint, we don't have any more chips left- Oh." Steven said as he entered the room. Kristi jumped slightly in her seat and edged away from Clint. Steve looked slightly embarrassed and started to move towards the door again. "I should just…"

"No!" Kristi yelped. Clint stared at her. "I mean, its fine. You don't have to go." She said quickly. Steve looked between her and Clint but walked over to the two and handed Kristi her root beer.

"So um, you guys excited for tonight?" Kristi asked, trying to sound cheerful. Clint gave a shrug. Steve blushed slightly.

"I don't know. I mean singing really isn't my thing…" Clint snorted at this.

"But you're the Star Spangled Man With a Plan!" He said slyly. Steve looked slightly embarrassed while Kristi laughed hard next to him.

"I heard about that! They didn't _really_ make you dress up and dance, did they?" She said, still giggling.

"I think Tony managed to find footage of that." Clint said laughing as well. Steve looked horrified at the thought.

"Guys, come on. It wasn't _that_ funny!"

/

That evening Bruce, Tony, Thor, Steve, Clint and Kristi settled down on the sofa in front of Tony's huge TV. Jane and Darcy couldn't make it but promised to stop by tomorrow afternoon so now it was just Kristi and the guys.

"Who wants to go first?" Tony asked. The other guys were silent, avoiding eye contact with Tony. They were all a little tipsy after polishing off some of the booze Tony ordered but they definitely weren't drunk enough to actually sing yet.

"I'll give it a go!" Kristi said, jumping lightly to her feet. Tony winked at her as she stood next to him. She scrolled through the songs before picking one that she liked. Soon music filled the air and Kristi laughed as Tony made a face at the song.

"_I've been here looking dynamite_

_Alone against the wall_

_Boys like you give it all so cold_

_Talking cheap in a bathroom stall_

_And you look so smooth, you better tell me the truth _

_Would you trade me out for someone cool?_

_I know you better than you do_

_So put out your cigarette and kiss me on the lips tonight_

_Me and you, you and me_

_Let's go back, let's go back. 1983 is calling_

_I've been on my knees and crawling_

_Back to you, it's coming all back to me, 1983"_

Clint watched as Kristi's eyes lit up in excitement as she sang and danced around crazily all over the room. He couldn't help but smile a little at seeing the joy on her face. Bruce noticed this and elbowed Tony.

"He's watching her like a hawk." He whispered. Tony snickered at 'hawk' and Bruce realized what he was laughing at. "Oh, shut up." He said. Tony shook his head slightly, still chortling a little before clapping wildly as soon as Kristi's song ended. She gave a little curtsey and plopped herself down next to Clint.

"You're up, archer." She said. Clint groaned as Tony whistled loudly.

"Do I have to?" He asked. Tony smirked and slapped him on the butt. Steve looked mortified by that while Clint simply glared at Tony.

"You heard the lady. It's your turn." He said with a smirk. Clint looked at Kristi and sighed.

"Fine." He said grouchily. He grabbed the mike off the table and scrolled through the songs. When he finally found one, he turned around and winked at Tony. "This one's for you, babe!" He said mockingly. Tony fluttered his eyes back and pretended to swoon. The familiar rhythm of the song filled the room and Tony and Kristi cheered wildly as Clint started singing.

"_Living easy, living free_

_Season ticket on a one-way ride_

_Asking nothing, leave me be_

_Taking everything in my stride_

_Don't need reason, don't need rhyme_

_Aint nothing I'd rather do_

_Going down, party time_

_My friends are gonna be there too, yeah  
_

_I'm on the highway to hell _

_On the highway to hell_

_Highway to hell,_

_I'm on the highway to hell  
_

_No stop signs, speed limit_

_Nobody's gonna slow me down_

_Like a wheel, gonna spin it_

_Nobody's gonna mess me round_

_Hey Satan, payed my dues_

_Playing in a rocking band_

_Hey momma, look at me_

_I'm on my way to the Promised Land_

_OWWW_

_I'm on the highway to hell_

_Highway to hell_

_I'm on the highway to hell_

_Highway to hellohhhhh" _

Steve winced at the loud music but swayed along nevertheless. He and Thor were taking small sips of all the booze Tony bought. Actually, Thor was drinking bottles at a time while Steve eyed the bottles wearily. Bruce, on the other hand, sat back and watched everything unfold in front of him. Kristi was slightly tipsy and started leaning against Tony for support. She clearly wasn't much of a drinker.

As the song finished, Tony whooped loudly and clapped Clint on the back. "You have excellent taste in music." He said. Clint found himself smiling and shrugged nonchalantly. Kristi was giggling non stop as Tony blasted more music out.

"You know, I'm glad you hired me here Tony." She said, still giggling to herself. "I've never gotten to hang out with people as great as you guys. I mean," She hiccupped and drank some more. "You're all superheroes and like you aren't stuck up and you're not what I expected like I thought you," She pointed clumsily at Bruce. "Were just a quiet little man. Except you're actually really big. And green. And you," She pointed at Steve. "Well, actually you're pretty perfect so I have nothing to say. But Thor, wow you're muscles are really…" Clint shook his head as he half-listened to Kristi chatter on and on. She was obviously one of the chatty drunks.

The rest of the night went by in a blur as Tony initiated the rounds of shots going around the room. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was the feel of Kristi's lips against his own.


End file.
